(Skin Care)
Daxxify Is The New Injectable You're Going To See Everywhere in 2023
It lasts twice as long as the competition.
The beauty industry buzz surrounding the approval of a new neurotoxin has hit a fever pitch. Last month, the FDA finally approved Botox’s long-awaited competitor: Daxxify. Like Allergan’s ubiquitous product Botox, Revance’s Daxxify also works as an injectable wrinkle-relaxer, using the neuromodulator botulinum toxin to soften lines and smooth foreheads, crow’s feet, and more .
There are currently a slew of other neuromodulators on the market beyond Botox — Dysport, Xeomin, and Jeuveau are some of the most popular. All are FDA approved to treat wrinkles and frown lines, and each one is subtly different in its use case and longevity. Many times, choosing which neuromodulator to receive is simply a personal choice — the concept of one being “better” than the other is subjective. That said, Daxxify’s entry into the space is significant in that it claims something that truly distinguishes it: It lasts considerably longer than any other neurotoxin on the market.
“That’s what sets Daxxify apart from other neurotoxins — it has longer-lasting effects,” says Dr. Marina Peredo, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City. Peredo participated in a clinical trial involving 50 patients with moderate movement in their glabella — the region between the eyebrows, commonly referred to as ‘11’s’ because of the vertical lines often created from eyebrow muscle movement — and cited no side effects and high patient satisfaction. While Daxxify’s on-label use is currently only approved to treat the glabella area, the results have been promising for treatment of other areas of the face.
Beyond the longer-lasting effects, Peredo attributes Daxxify’s uniqueness to the product’s formulation: While the active ingredient is still the same as Botox — botulinum toxin — the product is mixed with a synthetic peptide. “It’s the first and only toxin which has a peptide formulation,” she explains. “[The brand] has a proprietary stabilizing peptide which is synthetic — made out of 35 amino acids — and this gave the company the ability to not use human albumin or any other animal product.” (Botox, on the other hand, contains a small amount of human albumin, which may prevent some from choosing to receive the injectable.)
Similar neurotoxins on the market last between two to four months in average patients, depending on their muscle strength and metabolism. Daxxify’s clinical studies showed an average of six months of neuromodulation. “The amino acid stabilizer has a very high positive charge, which allows it to bind to the muscle stronger,” says Peredo of Daxxify’s lasting power. “It’s not clear if this is the reason it lasts longer, it could be coincidental, but it’s nice to know that the product does not have any human or animal byproducts.”
Daxxify vs. Botox
Most advanced or regular Botox patients know their dosage-per-region down to the unit; Daxxify will have a different but simple calculation. “Typically you double the units [of Botox you’d normally receive],” Peredo says. “If you’re used to getting 20 units in the glabella of Botox, you will comparably get 40 units of Daxxify.” It’s important to note that the doubling of units does not mean an increase in strength. “You double the units, but the active ingredient amount is the same,” explains Peredo. Similarly to Botox, Daxxify takes the same amount of time to activate — 72 hours — despite its longer duration. Currently, the manufacturers of Daxxify have yet to announce the cost of the buzzy new injectable, though it’s expected to be priced slightly more than its competitors because of its longevity. (For reference, one unit of Botox is usually $10 to $15.)
Despite the FDA’s label indication for glabella use only, off-label uses in the frontalis (forehead) and eye area (crow’s feet) are definitely expected once the product gets into the hands of dermatologists and surgeons.
Daxxify is expected to roll out in January of 2023, and according to Peredo, aesthetics enthusiasts are definitely eating up the hype: “A lot of my patients refer to the product as ‘magic’!”
